Paul McCartney announces “captivating” new Wings documentary film, ‘One Hand Clapping’ 

Paul McCartney has announced details of a “captivating” new Wings documentary film called One Hand Clapping. Find out more below.

Announced today (August 8), the project offers fans an opportunity to step back into 1974, when the McCartney-led band were working on the live studio album ‘One Hand Clapping’.

The album was recorded back in August of that year, while the band were enjoying their seventh week in a row at the top of the UK album charts with ‘Band On The Run’. It was recorded when McCartney and Wings headed to Abbey Road Studios for the recording of a documentary and possible live studio album.

Now, directed by David Litchfield, the captivating documentary will reveal insight into the look and the feel of the time, as it explores the band’s historic recording session at Abbey Road Studios.

Set to premiere as an exclusive cinema event on September 26, the behind-the-scenes look delves into the making of the album, and contains rare footage, interviews with the band, and insights from the creative team. Check out an exclusive clip below.

It’ll also include previously unreleased Backyard Sessions – showcasing Paul McCartney on acoustic guitar performing beloved tracks from his discography – as well as the unreleased song ‘Blackpool’ and covers of personal favourites like ‘Twenty Flight Rock’, the song he played for Beatles bandmate John Lennon during their first meeting.

“It’s so great to look back on that period and see the little live show we did. We made a pretty good noise actually,” McCartney said of the project. “It was a great time for the band, we started to have success with Wings, which had been a long time coming.”

The footage was originally shot on ‘70s videotape, and has been scanned and restored at 4K. The between-song dialogue has been de-mixed using Wingnut’s MAL software, and the film also features a new Dolby Atmos audio mix by Steve Orchard and Giles Martin.

The screenings for One Hand Clapping also boast an exclusive filmed introduction by Paul McCartney and previously unseen Polaroid photographs from the sessions. Tickets go on sale next Thursday (August 15) at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm BST you can purchase yours here.

“We are looking forward to bringing the legendary music of Paul McCartney to the big screen and offering fans a front-row seat to his enduring legacy,” said Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing. “This cinematic experience will transport audiences back to a golden era of rock and roll while captivating new fans with the magic of this iconic band. It’s a must-see event for music lovers of all generations.”

The announcement of the film comes after Wings revealed in April that they were going to be releasing their 1974 live studio album for the first time.

Captured across four days, the album was never officially released despite overwhelming demand, although various bootleg versions emerged over the years. It arrived on June 14, and marked the first time in 50 years that it has received an official release.

“’One Hand Clapping’ showcased Wings‘ new line-up, fresh off their return from Nashville where they recorded the classic single ‘Junior’s Farm’,” read a press release. “Following the sudden departure of Denny Seiwell and Henry McCullough the previous year on the eve of recording the Wings masterpiece ‘Band on the Run’, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine were now joined by guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Geoff Britton.”

The album opened with an instrumental jam, which would soon become the ‘One Hand Clapping’ theme song, and featured live-in-studio renditions of hits ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Band on the Run’, ‘Jet’, ‘My Love’, ‘Hi, Hi, Hi’, ‘Junior’s Farm’, Macca’s much loved solo song ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’.

Reworked extracts of Beatles’ classics were also featured, including ‘Let It Be’, ‘The Long and Winding Road’ and ‘Lady Madonna’, alongside the Moody Blues hit ‘Go Now’ and a solo piano version of the Tin Pan Alley classic ‘Baby Face’.